A Bright Azure Sky - Prologue
by katsuji74
Summary: The prologue to my story I'm going to write. I plan on releasing the first chapter in a few days/weeks (a procrastinator, I am), but in the meantime, I plan on posting some short stories to fill the gap. Constructive Criticism is welcome!


_**Prologue - A Tale of a Man, a Dragon, and a War.**_

_ Lt. Gen. Oscric Evelyn Clockner's blood soaked sword clattered to the floor as he lowered his bruised, cut, and battered body to the oak floor, his back leaving a trail of red from the middle of the wall to where he sat. His breath came in ragged breaths, his face covered in dirt and blood, and he looked up to the sky, the roof of the once well tended inn blasted open by some explosion. A few fires left over still burned around him as the sounds of war filled his ears. As his vision slowly began to fade, he realized that he was dying with a sort of disconnected feeling of surprise. _'Oh well,'_ he thought, _'with a sky this beautiful it seems like as good a time to die as any.'_ As he thought this, a roar filled the air as a large shadow covered him. Osric, too tired to care, simply sat there, his head falling back down and his chin coming to rest upon his neck guard. As he sat there, the shadow moved away, the sun coming to shine upon him once more. Suddenly, without any form of warning, a very loud _thud_ caused him to twitch awake, coming back from the warm sleep that had begun to wrap around his mind and splinters to fly everywhere as the floor a few meters away from Osric exploded into shrapnel. _'What the devil...?' _he thought, when a large snout came very close to his face. It sniffed him and then breathed back onto him, causing his bangs to billow back and away from his eyes._

_ The view of a large, blood red dragon filled his dimmed and somewhat edge-cropped vision. A man jumped off its back, walking up to Osric and kneeling in front of him to inspect Osric. Osric couldn't really see the man's face very well, but he saw a large beard that dominated the man's face and a large scar crossing over his left eye. _'Well, who's this rather bearded chap? I'd like to go to sleep, I'm much too tired to deal with this anymore...' _he thought irritably. The man stood up, drawing his sword and pointing it at Osric's face. "Do you have any last words, friend?" he asked. Osric tried to laugh, but couldn't conjure enough strength to do so. Painfully, he raised his head to look the man in the face. "Ironic... as you are... no friend... of... mine..." he managed to spit out. Osric had finally recognized that the coat of arms on the man's chest marked him as a member of the opposing army, the army of Archduke Franklin Arnold Hinson. The man standing above him chuckled. "True, but, in death, we are all brothers. Farewell, and may we both come to rest in the Eternal Plains of Kalros." The man lifted his sword up into the air, preparing for a killing blow. Osric simply stared, his vision becoming more and more grey. 'Funny,' Osric thought, 'how in the time of death, I feel no fear. I only wish I could have seen my child grow up to take his first steps..." Then everything went black as the sword came down._

* * *

_ "Mistress, just hold on! You're almost finished!"_

_ "Aaaaaaaaah! It hurts so much..."_

_ "Okay, Mistress. Just one more push! Just one more!"_

_ "AaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAH!" _huff, huff.

_ The sounds of a newborn baby's cries filled the room as the woman slumped back on her bed, sweat covering her entire body._

_ "Mistress, you've done it! Your son has been born!" The maid gently wiped off the blood on the newborn, taking extra care not to hurt him. Then she bathed him in a tub of water to wash away any of the excess blood. She carefully cut off the umbilical cord and tied it off, then slowly wrapped him snuggly into a warm blanket, passing it to the midwife and then to the exhausted woman. The woman looked up, and upon seeing the bundle of blankets that was her child, opened her eyes in happiness. She took hold of the child and cradled him close, looking at her newborn son. She began crying tears of happiness, letting out sighs of relief and of joy. "My boy, my baby boy..." She hugged him close, trying to retain her consciousnesses that was trying to slip from her grasp. "His name shall be Drake Bafford Clockner, son of Osric and Evangeline Clockner." she said as she lay back down, her child in her arms. She wiped away her tears and said to the two young girls and her friend, Mary, "Thank you, all of you. Please, do what you need and you may have the rest of the day off. Mary, thank you so much. Please, leave me so that I may be alone with my child." _

_ "Yes, Eva. I'm so happy for you!" Mary said, skipping and bouncing happily for her friend out the door, followed by the two girls who bowed their way out of the door. As soon as the door closed, Evangeline's grip on her consciousness began to slip. "If only... If only you were here to see him, dear. You would have been so proud..." she thought as her mind began to fall asleep._


End file.
